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Elite League B Fixture : 5th August 2010
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The Hammers picked up one League point at Ipswich although it should have been three and could have been all four having led by 12 points after eight heats.
Those opening eight heats saw Hammers riders take five heat wins and no last places. At that stage Adam Shields and Jonas Davidson had each had roared to 2 wins, and Lee Richardson had dropped just one point to Ipswich captain Daniel King in heat five. What followed was difficult for the Hammers riders and Management to take onboard.
As expected King took a 'Tactical Ride' in heat nine but the damage was restricted to just two points as Adam claimed his third win. However, heat 10 saw Linus Sundstrom get what was one of several extremely fast, and controversial, starts. Scott Nicholls was able to shepherd him home for a 5-1 to reduce the Hammers lead to six points.
What followed in heat 11 had a big affect on the final outcome of the meeting. Lee, off gate one, made the start but King, off gate two drifted wide and made contact with Peter Ljung resulting in the Hammers new signing taking a nasty looking tumble that also took out Ipswich rider Dawid Stachyra. The race obviously had to be stopped with virtually everyone in the pits expecting it to be a case of all four back. However, the referee decided that it was Peter's fault and excluded him. Even the Ipswich side of the pits were very surprised with that decision. Eventually peter was able to get up and walk back to the pits. As it was his fourth ride he would not have to come out again but was troubled with his wrist. he spent the rest of the meeting with his fellow riders with ice on it. A motivated Lee made the start in the rerun to claim the win but Stachrya gave up on the run in to the tapes and threw his bike away. he was, however, persuaded to pick it up and push it to the finishing line to claim a point. He may have just pushed it far enough to get the point he was subsequently awarded.
The next heat saw Sundstrom get another 'flyer' and with King following him home the hammers lead was still further cut to just two points. Lee and Adam came out for the vital heat 13 and off the unfavourable gates 13 led coming out of the second bend. Lee, off gate 2, did a tremendous job in pinning Nicholls to the white line whilst Adam roared round the outside. However, disaster struck when Adam fell on the exit to the fourth bend on the second lap and dislodged a wooden fence panel. The race was stopped and, quite correctly, Adam was excluded. In the rerun Lee wasn't able to make the same move and it was the Ipswich pairing of Nicholls and Dryml that took the 5-1. So, instead of a Hammers 5-1 it was a 5-1 to the Witches meaning instead of being 6 points up the Hammers found themselves 2 points behind with the Witches taking the lead for the first time in the match.
There was more controversy in the penultimate heat with a lot of movement at the start. Jonas dropped the clutch from gate one a split second too early but managed to stop before touching the tapes. When the tapes rose it meant that Jonas was last away. That wasn't the problem however as it was Sundstrom who got yet another 'flyer'. It was fully expected that the red lights would come on with a restart for all four but the referee allowed the race to continue with Sundstrom and Dryml out in front. Robbo had a go at splitting the Ipswich pairing and then Jonas took up the chase but to no avail. The resultant 5-1 meant that Ipswich increased their lead to six points.
The hammers now couldn't win the match and needed at least a shared final heat to claim one League point. The hammers lost the vital toss of the coin for gate positions and were given 2 and 4. King and Nicholls off 1 and 3 made the better starts and led coming out of the second bend and it looked likely that they would go on to win by 10 points and leave the hammers pointless. However, the Ipswich pairing made a bit of a mess with their team riding resulting in Nicholls taking a tumble into the airfence between the third and fourth bends of the third lap. He was able to get back on his machine but Lee and Adam were able to claim the minor places to share the heat and subsequently give the Hammers of the consolation of one precious League point.
In a match that started so well for the Hammers it was disappointing to leave with just one League point but until Nicholls fall in the last race it could have been even worse. Adam's fall in heat 13 proved costly but also so did the controversial exclusion of Peter in heat 11 along with the dubious starting technique on occasions of Sundstrom.
The Hammers riders will need to regroup prior to Friday's vital home match against Peterborough, who have now replaced the Hammers in third place in the table following their away win at Swindon.
 Related Link: Match Details
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